--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When they make up their ledger, they…" description: "\"“When they make up their ledger, they balance stupidity by wealth, and vice by hypocrisy.”\" — Oscar Wilde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/oscar-wilde-16_hypocrisy_when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-bala_3196581.jpg" --- # When they make up their ledger, they balance stupidity by… ![“When they make up their ledger, they balance stupidity by wealth, and vice by hypocrisy.” quote by Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/oscar-wilde-16_hypocrisy_when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-bala_3196581.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/oscar-wilde-16_hypocrisy_when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-bala_3196581.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/oscar-wilde-16_hypocrisy_when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-bala_3196581.jpg) > ““When they make up their ledger, they balance stupidity by wealth, and vice by hypocrisy.”” [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often use wealth to mask ignorance and hypocrisy, balancing one vice with another **In simple terms:** Wealth can hide stupidity and hypocrisy Key Takeaway Question the moral value of wealth Themes literature satire social critique morality wealth Mood witty critical ironic Type literary satirical philosophical When to use this quote - financial analysis - ethical education - social commentary - personal reflection Key Concepts Hypocrisy materialism social status ethical paradox Questions to Reflect On - How does society reward appearance over substance? - Can integrity thrive without material success? A Different Perspective Wealth does not automatically confer wisdom or virtue ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Balance Stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/balance-stupidity-2451496/) [Hypocrisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) [Stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidity/) [Stupidity Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stupidity-wealth-2451494/) [Vice Hypocrisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vice-hypocrisy-4860367/) ## Related quotes > [“They are more cunning than practical. When they make up their ledger, they balance stupidity by wealth, and vice by hypocrisy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/they-are-more-cunning-than-practical-when-they-make-up-their-ledger/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [There is some virtue in almost every vice, except hypocrisy; and even that, while it is a mockery of virtue, is at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/there-is-some-virtue-in-almost-every-vice-except-hypocrisy-and-even/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Never underestimate the potential for human stupidity when wealth and power are at stake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-e-feist/never-underestimate-the-potential-for-human-stupidity-when-wealth-and/) [Raymond E. Feist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-e-feist/) > [There are moments when one has to choose between living one's own life, fully, entirely, completely-or dragging out some false, shallow, degrading existence that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-moments-when-one-has-to-choose-between-living-one-s-own/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Now A Days Morons Are Quoting: Being Single Is My Attitute Actually They're Helpless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nizamshahbaaz/now-a-days-morons-are-quoting-being-single-is-my-attitute-actually/) [NizamShahbaaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nizamshahbaaz/) > [The greatest of all sins is stupidity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-greatest-of-all-sins-is-stupidity/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn't. Such is the astounding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/if-you-pretend-to-be-good-the-world-takes-you-very-seriously-if-you/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Learn to differentiate between ignorance and stupidity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/learn-to-differentiate-between-ignorance-and-stupidity/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Honesty in politics is the result of strength; hypocrisy is the result of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/honesty-in-politics-is-the-result-of-strength-hypocrisy-is-the-result/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [ “In all, the future secretary of defense and wartime vice president\[, Dick Cheney,\] would receive five deferments during the Vietnam War, protecting him from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-savage/in-all-the-future-secretary-of-defense-and-wartime-vice-president/) [Charlie Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-savage/) > [The hypocrisy and false piety of the deniers aside, the relationships of gays have no effect on heteros. Especially all the heteros who've done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/the-hypocrisy-and-false-piety-of-the-deniers-aside-the-relationships/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [“If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-men-could-see-us-as-we-really-are-they-would-be-a-little-amazed/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Bigoted people are just scholars who lack any sort of legitimate credentials to answer why they're bigoted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doctavius/bigoted-people-are-just-scholars-who-lack-any-sort-of-legitimate/) [Doctavius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doctavius/) > [Hypocrisy is a detriment to progress. There's always a hidden agenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-flynt/hypocrisy-is-a-detriment-to-progress-there-s-always-a-hidden-agenda/) [Larry Flynt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-flynt/) > [Everybody should read 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut. This book is about the hypocrisy of war, told in satire, and is hard-hitting and truthful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalki-koechlin/everybody-should-read-slaughterhouse-five-by-kurt-vonnegut-this-book/) [Kalki Koechlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalki-koechlin/) ## More by Oscar Wilde > [How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/how-else-but-through-a-broken-heart-may-lord-christ-enter-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-books-that-the-world-calls-immoral-are-the-books-that-show-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/bachelors-should-be-heavily-taxed-it-is-not-fair-that-some-men-should/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Who, being loved, is poor?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/who-being-loved-is-poor/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Basil my dear boy puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/basil-my-dear-boy-puts-everything-that-is-charming-in-him-into-his/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-don-t-at-all-like-knowing-what-people-say-of-me-behind-my-back-it/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Alles Populäre ist falsch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/alles-popul-re-ist-falsch/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“If these elements of beauty are real, the whole thing simply appeals to our sense of dramatic effect. Suddenly we find that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/if-these-elements-of-beauty-are-real-the-whole-thing-simply-appeals/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [To love one's self is the beginning of a life-long romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/to-love-one-s-self-is-the-beginning-of-a-life-long-romance/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/those-who-find-beautiful-meanings-in-beautiful-things-are-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Men always want to be a womans first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a mans last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/men-always-want-to-be-a-womans-first-love-women-have-a-more-subtle/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/why-is-it-that-at-a-bachelor-s-establishment-the-servants-invariably/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/beauty-is-the-only-thing-that-time-cannot-harm-philosophies-fall-away/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Explore all 3,343 Oscar Wilde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More Hypocrisy quotes > [Everybody should read 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut. This book is about the hypocrisy of war, told in satire, and is hard-hitting and truthful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalki-koechlin/everybody-should-read-slaughterhouse-five-by-kurt-vonnegut-this-book/) [Kalki Koechlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalki-koechlin/) > [Honesty in politics is the result of strength; hypocrisy is the result of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/honesty-in-politics-is-the-result-of-strength-hypocrisy-is-the-result/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [ “In all, the future secretary of defense and wartime vice president\[, Dick Cheney,\] would receive five deferments during the Vietnam War, protecting him from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-savage/in-all-the-future-secretary-of-defense-and-wartime-vice-president/) [Charlie Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-savage/) > [“If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-men-could-see-us-as-we-really-are-they-would-be-a-little-amazed/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Bigoted people are just scholars who lack any sort of legitimate credentials to answer why they're bigoted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doctavius/bigoted-people-are-just-scholars-who-lack-any-sort-of-legitimate/) [Doctavius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doctavius/) > [The hypocrisy and false piety of the deniers aside, the relationships of gays have no effect on heteros. Especially all the heteros who've done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/the-hypocrisy-and-false-piety-of-the-deniers-aside-the-relationships/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [Hypocrisy is a detriment to progress. There's always a hidden agenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-flynt/hypocrisy-is-a-detriment-to-progress-there-s-always-a-hidden-agenda/) [Larry Flynt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-flynt/) > [Want of principle is power. Truth and honesty set a limit to our efforts, which impudence and hypocrisy easily overleap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/want-of-principle-is-power-truth-and-honesty-set-a-limit-to-our/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Mayor De Blasio's appointment of Bill Bratton as police commissioner is the height of hypocrisy. Asking Bratton to stop racial profiling and stop and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barron/mayor-de-blasio-s-appointment-of-bill-bratton-as-police-commissioner/) [Charles Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-barron/) > [It's about time Hypocrisy should be adopted as a religion, considering it's got more followers than any other religion on this planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashutosh-cheulkar/it-s-about-time-hypocrisy-should-be-adopted-as-a-religion-considering/) [Ashutosh Cheulkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashutosh-cheulkar/) > [I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/i-hate-a-woman-who-offers-herself-because-she-ought-to-do-so-and-cold/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [One can imagine the look the two lovers exchanged; it was like a flame, for virtuous lovers have not a shred of hypocrisy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/one-can-imagine-the-look-the-two-lovers-exchanged-it-was-like-a-flame/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [A wicked mortal is not the idea of God. He is little else than the expression of error. To suppose that sin, lust, hatred,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-baker-eddy/a-wicked-mortal-is-not-the-idea-of-god-he-is-little-else-than-the/) [Mary Baker Eddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-baker-eddy/) > [“even the worst men wanted to be perceived as better than they were. How else could hypocrisy have risen to such delirious levels?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-leon/even-the-worst-men-wanted-to-be-perceived-as-better-than-they-were/) [Donna Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-leon/) > [What I object to in Mother is that she wants me to think her thoughts. Apart from the question of hypocrisy, I prefer my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-deland/what-i-object-to-in-mother-is-that-she-wants-me-to-think-her-thoughts/) [Margaret Deland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-deland/) [Browse all 1,238 Hypocrisy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When they make up their ledger, they balance stupidity by wealth, and vice by hypocrisy.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Oscar Wilde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-balance-stupidity-by-wealth-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hypocrisy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-balance-stupidity-by-wealth-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/oscar-wilde-16_hypocrisy_when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-bala_3196581.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/oscar-wilde-16_hypocrisy_when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-bala_3196581.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/daa/oscar-wilde-16_hypocrisy_when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-bala_3196581.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When they make up their ledger, they balance stupidity by wealth, and vice by hypocrisy.” — Oscar Wilde", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Oscar Wilde", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“When they make up their ledger,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-balance-stupidity-by-wealth-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/when-they-make-up-their-ledger-they-balance-stupidity-by-wealth-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```